


The Ghost of Winterfell

by Dragongoddess13



Series: Sex Is An Emotion In Motion [3]
Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Friends With Benefits, Idiots in Love, Mutual Pining, Secret Relationship, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-04
Updated: 2019-11-06
Packaged: 2021-01-22 13:18:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,482
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21302723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dragongoddess13/pseuds/Dragongoddess13
Summary: Growing up Sansa always thought Winterfell was haunted. It made sense if you believed in that sort of thing. The manor was old and her entire family had lived there for three generations, surely something must have stuck. Little does she know tje explanation is a lot more down to earth.
Relationships: Arya Stark/Gendry Waters, Theon Greyjoy/Sansa Stark
Series: Sex Is An Emotion In Motion [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1530782
Comments: 23
Kudos: 192





	1. Part I

**Author's Note:**

> So I was thinking about Arya calling herself the Ghost of Harrenhal and this came to be.

The Ghost of Winterfell

Part I

xXx

“I’m serious.” Jayne Poole insists adamantly. Margaery rolls her eyes.

“I’m sure, Jeyne.” She replies. How this conversation started, Arya couldn’t remember, but no matter where it went, watching the coolest woman Sansa had ever called friend, roll her eyes at Arya’s childhood bully would never get old. 

“She’s right.” Sansa spoke up. “Winterfell is haunted.” 

“There’s no such thing as ghosts, sweetie.” Margaery adds before turning to Arya across from her. “Do you think your childhood home is haunted?”

“Not even a little bit.” She says. “Not once have I seen any proof that Winterfell his haunted.” 

Jeyne rolls her eyes, but refrains from whatever rude remark she wants to say. 

“You’ve seen and heard plenty of evidence you just refuse to acknowledge any of it.” Sansa tells her, turning to Margaery. “She always explains it away as being the house settling or absent mindedness.”

“Or that it’s all in our head.” Jeyne interjects. 

Margaery looks like she wants to say something to that and Arya really hopes she stops fighting the urge. 

“The manor was built by our great great grandfather, do you honestly believe it’s not possible for the house to be settling?” Arya asks incredulously. 

“Makes perfect sense to me.” Margaery agrees. 

Sansa sighs. “You’ll see for yourself when you come up for dad’s birthday party.” 

Margaery smiles placatingly. “I’ll take your word for it.” 

xXx

_ “Honey, there’s no such thing as ghosts.” Catelyn Stark tells her, not looking up from her plate as she cut her food up. At the other end of the dinner table, Ned looks to Sansa concerned.  _

_ “What makes you think Winterfell is haunted?”  _

_ “There’s all sorts of sounds in the walls.” she explains.  _

_ “Oh no, not again.” Catelyn finally looks up from her plate, sharing a look with Ned.  _

_ “Again?” Arya asks.  _

_ “Mice.” Robb tells her. “We had them the summer before Sansa was born, they were everywhere, found a hole in the foundation and nested. There were exterminators in and out all summer.” _

_ Arya scrunches up her nose in disgust.  _

_ “It’s not mice.” Sansa insists. “It sounds like footsteps, like a person, not an animal.” she turns to Arya. “You have to have heard it too, it’s in the wall between our rooms.” _

_ Arya merely shrugs. Sansa huffs, shaking her head, clearly upset with Arya’s response, not that that’s different from any other day. ”Whatever,” she mutters. “It’s not mice.”  _

** _Three nights later_ **

_ “Sorry I’m late, Arry, I had to sneak past your sister’s friends.” Gendry tells her, stepping into her bedroom and drapping his bag on the floor. He drops to the floor at the end of her bed, picking up the spare game controller on the television stand. Arya ends her game, backtracking to the main menu. “What’s all this shit about a ghost?”  _

_ Arya sighs. “Sansa thinks the house is haunted.” she replies, not looking away from the television screen.  _

_ Gendry scoffs. “Well that certainly explains Jeyne.”  _

_ “Very little explains Jeyne.” Arya says. “But what did she do?”  _

_ “Tried to convince me to join them, something about protecting them while they talked to the ancestors of Winterfell.”  _

_ Arya rolls her eyes. “Do you think she can hear how desperate she sounds and just doesn’t care?”  _

_ “She’s as far from self aware as any human being could ever possibly be.” Gendry replies. “So are they having a seance or something?”  _

_ “Probably, I think I saw one of her friends with a ouija board.” _

_ “So their basically just going to freak themselves out all night?” _

_ “Basically.”  _

_ Gendry turns to look at her, squinting suspiciously. Her answers since he’d arrived had been short and irritated, giving him no reason to believe that something wasn’t wrong. _

_ “What are you staring at stupid?” she asks and despite her bad mood, there’s a hint of affection in the insult as there always is.  _

_ “What’s wrong?” he asked, ignoring the obvious bait. _

_ “What makes you think there’s something wrong?” he just gives her a knowing look and she rolls her eyes, sliding down to the floor beside him. “It’s stupid.” she tells him.  _

_ “So Jeyne or your sister?”  _

_ “Jeyne.” Arya confirms. “She thinks I told our parents that I didn’t hear anything because I wanted Sansa to sound crazy.”  _

_ “That doesn’t make any sense.”  _

_ “I know that and you know that, but Jeyne hates me so logic doesn’t apply.”  _

_ “I’m sorry, Arry.” _

_ Arya shakes her head as if to rid herself of all of this. “I can say definitively that there’s no ghost.”  _

_ “Other than the fact that there’s no such thing, how are you so sure?”  _

_ Arya looks around him toward her bedroom door as if trying to make a decision. She seems to do so, standing and crossing to the door, locking it and turning back to him. She gestures for him to follow her and he does, getting to his feet. She leads him into her private bathroom, watching confused as she opens the linen closet door.  _

_ “What are you doing?” he asks as she pulls stacks of towels off the bottom shelf, setting them aside. She then, much to his continued confusion, pulls the bottom shelf out completely. “Seriously, what…” he cuts himself off, watching fascinated as a previously unseen panel is pushed in and slid to the side. “What the fuck?” he asks. “Is that a secret passage.” _

_ She grins at him over her shoulder before crawling through. He gets down on his knees and peeks in. The passage behind the wall is similar to the halls of Winterfell, though much more narrow. Stretching to the left and right as well as straight out in front of him.  _

_ “You’re the Ghost of Winterfell?” he asks. She smiles.  _

_ “I like the sound of that.” she laughs. “Coming in?” she asks.  _

_ He does, crawling through and standing beside her, Gendry has always been a big guy, but surprisingly enough, he has no trouble standing here.  _

_ “Where does this go?” he asks.  _

_ “Everywhere.” she grins, turning around and leading him to the right of the opening. It’s only a few steps down before it turns left and follows along, what he quickly realizes is the wall behind her bed.  _

_ They turn right at the end of this passage, though it continues in both directions. At the end they turn right again and almost immediately, he can hear voices. She puts a finger to her lips and gestured for him to listen.  _

_ “Is there anybody here with us tonight?” they hear Sansa ask, her voice muffled through the wall. “If there’s anyone with us, can you please give us a sign?” she continues. There’s a lengthy pause before they hear her sigh. “I swear there’s something here. I’ve heard it.”  _

_ “We believe you, Sans.” one of the girls replies. _

_ “Yeah, we know you wouldn’t lie like your sister.” Jeyne adds, and there’s venom in her voice as she says the word ‘sister’. _

_ Gendry chances a look down at Arya, angered by the sadness he sees on her face. Without thinking he lashes out, slamming his open palm against the wall. The chorus of screams beyond the wall are more satisfying than they should be. _

_ Arya is staring up at him wide eyed, like she can’t believe he just did that and loving him for it. There’s a litany of ‘Oh my gods’ and gasps of fear. Arya slaps a hand across her mouth, trying not to laugh.  _

_ Taking pity, Gendry grabs her hand and quietly leads her back the way they came, but before he can turn back down the corridor behind her wall, she stops him, tugging him with her down the opposite hall.  _

_ “Where are we going now?” he asks.  _

_ “I want to show you something else.” she replies. He follows her through a maze of corridors left, right and left again, even up a set of stairs. It’s not long before they stop at a plain looking door. She pushes it open and Gendry stares in wonder. _

_ “Whoa, I’ve neer seen this room before.” he says, stepping in. _

_ “No one has, except my grandfather and great great grandfather before him. They each used this as a study before grandfather got married, then he sealed it up and connected it to the secret passages that already existed.”  _

_ “Why?”  _

_ “He was a bit of an adventurer in his youth, He loved puzzles and mysteries and he wanted to pass that on. He hoped his future children would find passages on their own and explore, find the things he hid. As far as I can tell, none of them did.” _

_ “Except you?” he asks amused, taking in the room. He notices a cot in the corner and several things that could only be Arya’s. The room as a whole fits perfectly with the rest of the old manor, a large mahogany desk, inset bookshelves and plush leather furniture. There are old pictures on the credenza, mostly of Arya’s father, Uncles and Aunt when they were much younger. _

_ “This is so cool.” he tells her. “What did he leave?” _

_ “All kinds of things. Letters, family heirlooms, pictures, funny stories, books. It’s incredible.”  _

_ “And you haven’t told your father about all of this?”  _

_ She shakes her head. “Not yet, I want to see everything I can find first.” Gendry looks at her curiously, but doesn’t say anything. “What, you think I should?” she asks.  _

_ He hesitates. “You and your dad aren’t like me and mine. You guys are so close, I think… well, maybe you two could have fun searching for everything together.”  _

_ “You think he’d want to?” she asks, sounding far more self conscious than she ever should. _

_ “I’m positive he would.” _


	2. Part II

The Ghost of Winterfell

Part II

xXx

“How did you sleep last night?” Sansa asks Margaery as she enters the kitchen. Sansa, Jeyne, Margaery, Theon, Arya and Gendry had arrived in Wintertown via train the night before. Getting in so late, they’d simply come in after dropping Jeyne off at her father’s home and gone straight to bed.

“Like a log. You must tell me where you got that mattress it was incredible.” she replies, fixing herself a cup of coffee. 

Arya hides a smirk behind her own cup, watching as Margaery refuses to look up at Sansa. 

“You didn’t hear anything strange?” Gendry questions.

“No, should I have?” 

Sansa sighs audibly. “You heard nothing at all?”

“Well, not  _ nothing _ .” she says, perching on a stool at the breakfast bar. Sansa perks up. “There was some faint moaning last night, but I just assumed it was coming from one of the other bedrooms.” Sansa deflates, turning her attention to her breakfast while Margaery throws a knowing look at Gendry and Arya. 

Margaery was the only one who knew about their arrangement, but only because she had walked in on them in the bathroom at one of her parties. They had explained the situation and she promised to keep it a secret, but Arya supposed they were pushing it if they were going to make so much noise with so many people around. 

It’s not long before the rest of the family comes in. Conversation takes over as Catelyn starts giving everyone something to do to prepare for Ned’s Birthday party. By the time breakfast was done, they all have something to do and break off to get it done. 

Arya’s is probably the easiest, baking her father’s birthday cake like she does every year, and she quickly cleans up the kitchen once everything is done a few hours later. Catelyn had said that Ned was going into the office to get some work done and stay out of the way, but in all the craziness it seems no one noticed that his car was still in the garage. Arya’s pretty sure she knows where to find him. 

xXx

_ “Daddy?” Arya calls out as she sticks her head into Ned’s home office early one morning. The rest of the family is out for the day, various activities and obligations taking them away from the estate, leaving Ned and Arya some rarely had alone time.  _

_ Ned looks up and smiles at his youngest daughter. “Good morning, sweetheart.” there were a lot of things Arya loved about her father, but her favorite was always how happy he was to see her.  _

_ “Are you busy?” she asks, stepping into the office.  _

_ “For you? Never.” he tells her, setting his pen aside and giving her his full attention.  _

_ “Can I show you something?” he simply nods and follows her when she gestures him to. She leads him up the stairs to her room and into her bathroom where the bottom shelf of her closet is already removed.  _

_ “What happened here?” he asks.  _

_ “It’s one of the entrances to the secret passages through the house.”  _

_ Ned stares down at her dumbfounded. “Those are just a myth, an old family legend.”  _

_ She shakes her head. “Grandma just said that so you wouldn’t go crawling around the walls. At least that’s what grandpa’s letter said.”  _

_ “Grandpa’s letter?” he asks. Arya grins and crawls through the door, stepping aside to give Ned room to crawl in behind her.  _

_ “This way.” she tells him, leading him through the corridors and eventually stopping outside the hidden office. She opens the door for him, watching the wonder play across his face as he steps in, taking in a room he had only ever heard stories about.  _

_ “How did you find this?” he asks, after finishing the letter she’d dug out for him to read. _

_ “I dropped something and when I went to dig it out from under the shelf I noticed the panel.” she explains.  _

_ He shakes his head looking amused. “This is so like my father.” he says in wonder. “How long have you known this was here?”  _

_ “A few months. I was kind of using it to hide out, but I told Gendry about it and he suggested that maybe you and I could explore it together.”  _

_ Ned smiles. “I’d like that.” he replied. “Tell me what you’ve found so far.”  _

xXx

“Daddy?” Arya calls as she steps into her grandfather’s secret office. A lot has changed since she was a kid. They’d added their own pictures to the credenza and on the wall, a hand drawn map of the secret passages, dated complete the year she turned sixteen. 

“Hello sweetheart.” he greets her, looking up from the photo of him and his siblings in the backyard of Winterfell. 

“How’s your birthday so far?” she asks, taking a seat in one of the chairs across from the desk.

“It’s nice. Looking forward to everyone getting here.” 

“I talked to Jon on the train last night. Aunt Lyanna is excited.” 

“I’ll bet she is. I can’t wait to see what embarrassing gift she got me to remind me how old I am.”

Arya laughs. “Apparently it’s the best one yet.” 

Ned chuckles. “How have you been?” he asks. “How’s the cafe?” 

“It’s good. The storefront next door is empty now and I’ve been thinking about opening that ice cream parlor I’ve always wanted, or maybe just expanding the cafe.”

“That sounds nice.” he tells her. “I’m glad things are going so well. I’ll be honest, when you told us you were leaving Acorn Hall to start your own business, I knew you could do it, but I was still worried about you.” 

“I was terrified, honestly.” she explains. “I mean I’m not Hot Pie.”

“No, you’re not, but you’re no less talented.” he says. 

“I have Gendry to thank for a lot of it. There were more than a few occasions where I wanted to quit and just cut my losses, but he wouldn’t let me. Always talked me down from the edge.” she huffs a laugh. “Sometimes I don’t know how he puts up with me.” 

“He loves you Arya.” Ned says, his voice soft but serious. “And while we’re on the subject, I couldn’t help but notice how close you and Gendry seemed lately.” 

Arya looks confused. “What do you mean? We’ve always been close. He’s my best friend.” 

“Yes, you have, and while I am a big believer in platonic love, you two have always been more complicated.” 

“I think you’ve lost me, dad.” she scrunches up her nose in confusion.

“I truly hope you figure it out eventually.” 

xXx

“Nothing? You heard nothing?” 

Gendry refrains from rolling his eyes as he passes the breakfast bar for the refrigerator. He must not do a very good job, because he gets a light jab in the side from Catelyn standing at the counter beside the fridge. He looks at her sheepishly as he pulls two beers out. She looks amused, but also like if he starts anything she’ll never forgive him.

It was quite an eye opening experience when Gendry realized that Cat didn’t particularly like Jeyne either, but she was Sansa’s friend and she wouldn’t interfere unless Arya needed her too. 

“Did you hear anything, Gendry?” Jeyne asks and hearing the flirty tone of her voice, Cat gives him a look to behave himself. 

“I did not.” he answers honestly, popping the caps off the bottles and tossing them in the trash. He doesn’t give her the chance to continue, walking back out and returning to where he’d left Arya. he hands her the other beer, reclaiming his seat in the group of people they’d been talking to. She looks away from Jon long enough to take it and thank him before turning back to Jon’s story of how he and his new girlfriend Ygritte met.

The party had been in full swing for a few hours now. Everyone from friends, family and business associates gathered to celebrate Ned Stark’s sixtieth birthday. Ned seemed to be enjoying himself, surrounded by his siblings and closest friends. 

At some point after they cut the cake and Ned praises Arya for another successful creation, Gendry breaks off from the party sneaking upstairs to his room. He collapses on his bed, breathing deep. 

“Almost thirty years old and you still can’t stand groups of people.” Arya’s voice is soft and he opens his eyes to find her standing in the doorway. He smiles at her. 

“I probably would have lasted longer if Cat hadn’t made me wear a tie.” 

Arya laughs, closing the door behind her and walking over, climbing into the bed and curling into his side. They lay together for awhile, listening to the residual sounds far below them. 

“Do you think anyone would miss us?” Arya asks. 

“Well, the cake is cut, everyone gave your dad his gifts, your mom got her yearly family photo… I’d say we’re free and clear.”

Arya sits up, grinning down at him. She doesn’t have to say anything, he knows exactly what she’s thinking. He smiles back. “Where’s the nearest door?” 

“The linen cupboard around the corner.” 

Their up almost simultaneously, the same excited energy as from the night before when she’d shown up in his room while he was getting ready for bed and asked if he wanted to do something she had been thinking about doing for years. 

Gendry throws open the door, stopping short when he realizes someone’s on the other side. Jeyne stands before him, hand raised to knock, looking surprised by the door suddenly opening. 

“Jeyne?” Gendry questions.

“Gendry.” she replies. Rolling her eyes, Arya peeks around Gendry. 

“Jeyne.” she greets her, watching her face fall. 

“Arya.” she replies, sounding none too happy to see the youngest Stark girl. She looks to Gendry. “Can I talk to you for a moment.” she asks, then adds; “Alone.” looking back at Arya with a barely contained glare. 

Arya looks back at Gendry, who gives her a helpless look. “I’ll see you downstairs.” she tells him, pushing her way out and turning in the direction of the stairs. Jeyne watches her until she’s out of sight. 

“What’s up?” Gendry asks, drawing her attention back to him, desperate for her to hurry up. 

She seems to steel herself, like she’s screwing up her courage and Gendry feels dread settle in his stomach. 

“Okay look, I know this is probably a waste of time but… I just need to say this.” she starts in a rush. “I...I’ve kinda had a crush on you since we were kids and I know this isn’t the best time to tell you this, but I just needed to get it out, I’ve held it in too long.” she takes a deep breath. “So… there it is.” 

“I see… well... Um… thank you?” he replies awkwardly. Realization plays across her face and she nods. 

“You’re welcome.” she replies and he tries to ignore the tears welling up in her eyes as she turns and walks away. He takes a deep breath, cursing himself for feeling guilty. The last thing he wants to do is feel bad for his best friend’s childhood bully. 

Gendry steps out of his room, closing the door behind him and heading in the direction Arya disappeared. As he rounds the corner toward the stairs he finds her leaning in the doorway of the hall closet. 

“Did you hear all of that?” he asks. She nods. 

“Why aren’t you interested in her?” she questions, voice soft. “I mean, it can’t be because of when we were kids, that was so long ago.” 

A scowl slowly starts to form as he processes what she’s said. “It absolutely has to do with all that shit when we were kids.” he replies, as if he can’t believe their having this conversation. “Arry, when we met, she had you convinced that you were unwanted and unloved. She was cruel and mean and went out of her way to hurt you whenever she could get away with it.” he tells her, growing angry at the memories. “You may have let it go, but quite frankly, I haven’t. She had not once apologized for what she did to you and to this day I still see the effect she has on you. There are still days I see you second guessing yourself, your surprised to find out anyone has any interest in you, as if your not a kind, bright, beautiful woman.”

Arya stares back at him wide eyes, but she quickly shakes it off when she realizes he’s done ranting. “Do you want to go back downstairs?” 

Gendry sighs, stepping up to her. She’s avoiding talking about it, he knows, and he can’t blame her. Ranting at her isn’t going to miraculously make years of self consciousness disappear. “No.” he speaks softly, pushing her back into the closer and closing the door behind them. 


	3. Part III

The Ghost of Winterfell

Part III

xXx

Arya’s back hits the shelves, Gendry’s hands trailing along her sides and back as his mouth devours hers. Before she knows it his mouth is moving down her neck, sucking and nipping along the column of skin and muscle. She grinds forward against him and he returns the gesture, pressing her harder into the shelves. 

“Gendry.” she gasps, planting her hands on his chest and pushing him away. 

“What’s wrong?” he asks, staring down at her in the darkness. He can just barely make out her outline as she reaches into the pocket of her dress. He jerks away from the light of her cell phone as she switches on the flashlight. 

“Sorry.” she mutters, leaning up to peck him on the lips before she turns around and goes to her knees, searching for the panel that opens into the corridors behind the walls. She quickly finds it, pushes it open and moves aside so Gendry can slip through first. He does, then Arya follows, closing the panel behind them. When she stands, Gendry pushes her back against the wall. 

“Are we going to make it to a room this time?” he asks. Arya laughs breathlessly as he focuses on her neck. 

“We will if you can behave yourself long enough to get there.” 

Gendry chuckles, lifting her up against him so she’ll wrap her legs around his waist. “So that’s a no then.” 

She giggles, shoving at his shoulder. “No, I have plans for you.” she tells him as he pulls back, a grin spreading across his face. 

“Oh yeah? What kind of plans?” 

“You’ll just have to wait and see.” she replies, unwinding her legs from his waist and putting her feet back on the floor. He helps her down, and then lets her take his hand, pulling him through the corridors. 

The corridors themselves are expansive, stretching throughout the entire house. Not every room has an entrance, but a good deal of the largest rooms do. Arya had made a promise to her father years ago that she wouldn’t use the passages to spy on her siblings or sneak into their rooms, but there were several places that were not off limits, up to and including the second hidden room near the attic. 

The small room just to the side of the attic has been Arya’s secret place for years. Even Gendry hasn’t been allowed there and seeming to realize where she’s leading him, he stops her short. “Are you sure about this?” he asks. He knows what this space has meant to her. The only place in Winterfell where she could ever truly be alone in a house with four other siblings and various members of estate staff. She’d only ever told him about it, refusing to show even him. 

“I am.” she tells him. “It meant a lot to have this place growing up, but I’m not a kid anymore, I don’t really need it the same way.” she continues. She reaches up, wrapping her hand around his tie and pulling him down to her level. “Now, I spent all afternoon cleaning it up today, are you coming or not?” 

Gendry grins. “Lead the way mlady.” 

Arya rolls her eyes, turning, her hand still around his tie and tugging him forward. He goes along happily, the final stretch taking them down a long corridor and up a steep flight of stairs. There’s a door at the top and she pushes it open, revealing to him, for the first time, her childhood sanctuary. 

The room itself is similar to the office, in the fact that it too is drywalled and painted a cool light grey color. It’s small, not more than the size of one of the bathrooms downstairs without the fixtures in it. There’s a single light in the ceiling, a bare bulb that hangs a few inches down. Against one wall is a large air mattress, the bed made up with fleece blankets to stave off the chill this high up. There’s a small bookshelf stuffed with books and comic books against one wall, accompanied by a bean bag chair. Additionally, he sees a folding table and chair with pen cup and old notebooks on top. The walls themselves are covered in posters and pictures. Various movie posters and pictures she tore out of her favorite food and travel magazines. 

One picture catches his attention though, taped to the wall above the bed, he remembers the day it was taken, the two of them at a party she made him go to to celebrate his high school Rugby team’s win at nationals. He would have been perfectly happy to go to their favorite diner and spend the night watching movies, but she insisted he enjoy the praise of a season well played. They were sitting side by side on a pool chair around Jeyne Westerlings pool and she’d just randomly wrapped her arm around his neck, pulled him in to snap a selfie of them. He had his own copy of the picture in his flat. He loved that photo, the whole evening really. He didn’t normally like people or parties or people  _ at  _ parties, but that night had been perfect. 

“What do you think?” Arya asks, drawing him out of his thoughts. Gendry looks down to find her sitting on the inflatable mattress. He smiles down at her, plopping down beside her and watching amused as she topples over a bit. She looks disgruntled as she rights herself. 

“I can see why you liked having this place to yourself.” he tells her. She hums. Gendry moves his arm around her, pulling her into his side and Arya curls up, resting her head under his chin. For a few minutes they sit together and relax, enjoying the peace between them. Arya eventually looks up at him and smirks. “Want to make this place, ours?” she asks. Gendry returns the look with a smirk of his own, wasting no time in reigniting the heat between them. Before she knows it, she’s on her back, Gendry hovering over her and living out a fantasy she had long since buried. 

The truth was, she’d had a crush on Gendry for years, through most of secondary school really, and on the occasion that she found herself fantasizing, it was always of him. She’d be lying if she said she hadn’t wanted to do this with him specifically, here, in her little hideaway behind the walls of Winterfell. 

Arya is pulled from her thoughts as her shirt is sent flying across the room. She giggles at his eagerness, his fingers desperately working at the buttons and zippers of her clothes. He’s made no secret of how beautiful he thinks she is, from what he said in the hall not long before to the way he stares when she walks around their apartments naked. Now is no different as he worships her body in a way she’s ashamed to say no one ever has before. With every encounter she fears that she is slipping further and further into feelings that she’ll never be rid of. It frightens her, but it’s also exhilarating. 

“Gendry.” she breathes, as she feels his lips trail up the inside of her thigh. He’s let his beard grow out some. Not nearly as thick as Robert, but more of a goatee, neatly trimmed. It feels amazing against her skin, she can’t get enough of it. “Fuck me, Gendry.” she says, sometime later, feeling her heartbeat slowly return to normal. Gendry looks smug as he crawls up her body, the evidence of her climax wetting his lips. 

“You’re so beautiful when you come for me.” he whispers in her ear, lining himself up as he settles above her. She moans at the deep timber of his voice, the way his teeth graze her earlobe. He slides in in one swift movement, seating himself inside her to the hilt. Burying his face in her neck, he waits with a smirk for her to complain that he’s not moving before canting his hips in a steady rhythm. 

Listening to her pant and gasp his name is by far the most beautiful sound Gendry has ever had the pleasure of hearing. There are times he thinks he’d like to record her voice and just listen to it on repeat like he would a song on the radio. His name has never sounded better than when it’s falling from her lips on a moan. 

Gendry would be lying if he said he hadn’t thought about her in here growing up; if he hadn’t considered what it would be like to sneak back here and find her, to tell her how he felt about her, how he’d felt about her for years. He’d had the recurring fantasy of finding her here in a compromising position, touching herself, his name on her lips and he, the ever horning teenager that he was, would slip into the bed with her and make her fantasies come true. And now he gets to live that himself and he’s never felt so happy before in his life. 

“Fuck, I’m so close.” she breaths, her words barely audible above the plastic creak of the mattress and the slap of skin on skin. 

“Let go.” he whispers in her ear, feeling her shudder at the sensation. “Come for me.” And she does, her whole body tensing around him, her heels pressing him closer as she feels him release inside of her.

They collapse together, breathing hard, the sweat cooling on their bodies. She moans softly in protest as he pulls away, pulling the blankets out from beneath them and settling them over them. She snuggles up to him as he settles, her head on his chest and breathing quickly evening out. He thinks that maybe they should go back to his room, or her’s for that matter, but he can’t find it in himself to get up, her warm body pressed into his side, her breath puffing out across his bare chest. He can feel her heartbeat against the hand that rests on her back and just like that, he’s lulled to sleep. 


End file.
